Yellow tungsten oxide or WO3 can be used as a photocatalyst. Rare-earth-doped yellow tungsten oxide is WO3 doped with rare earth element that has better photocatalytic performance than pure WO3 powder. Rare earth elements are prone to generate multiple electronic configurations. Their oxides have the characteristics of polymorphism, strong adsorption selectivity and good thermal stability. Also, after doping, the light absorption band of the photocatalyst moves to the visible light region.

Studies have shown that the photocatalytic reaction efficiency of rare-earth-doped yellow tungsten oxide has been improved. Well, do you know what is the principle of rare earth metal doping to improve the photocatalytic activity of yellow tungsten oxide? Rare earth elements have a larger ionic radius than W elements, and are difficult to enter the WO3 crystal lattice. They mainly exist on the surface of WO3 microcrystals or are dispersed between WO3 microcrystal spaces. They have f electrons and strong adsorption, which can improve efficiency of photocatalysis reaction. Therefore, doping WO3 with rare earth metal may be an effective method to improve photocatalytic activity of WO3 photocatalyst.